Wright Thompson – författare

'Haunting . . . The writing is often breathtaking, brutality amplified through perfectly crafted prose.' The Times'Extraordinary . . . Serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel.' Washington Post'With a passion for truth and justice, and a fierce determination to dig for the secrets, Wright Thompson has produced an incredible history of a crime that changed America.' John GrishamHow forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta to bring about the most consequential murder in US history.Emmett Till’s murder is one of the most infamous in American history; a moment that, more than any other, awakened the world to the racism of the Deep South. Yet despite growing up just a few miles from where it happened, Wright Thompson knew nothing of it until he left Mississippi. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.Over the course of five years’ research, Thompson has learnt that almost every part of the standard account of Till’s killing is wrong. In August 1955, after the two men charged with the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist: one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. We now know that at least eight people were present, and many more complicit. And we now know precisely where it took place: inside a barn on a 36-square-mile grid called Township 22 North, Range 4 West.This book tells the story of that barn. It is the story of what really happened on the night of August 28, 1955, and of the individuals who have spent decades bringing the truth to light. And it is the story of the centuries-old forces that made that night inevitable: forces that, over the course of 200 years, transformed Township 22 North, Range 4 West from Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper’s farm, to the site of the most significant murder in US history.The result is a revelatory work of investigative reportage and a panoramic new history of white supremacy in America. It maps the road that the US – and the world – must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.

The instant New York Times bestseller • Named the #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year by TIME, A Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Slate, Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, Smithsonian, BookPage, KCUR, Kirkus, and Boston Globe“It literally changed my outlook on the world…incredible.” —Shonda Rhimes"The Barn is serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel… The Barn describes not just the poison of silence and lies, but also the dignity of courage and truth.” — The Washington Post“The most brutal, layered, and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read…Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.” —Kiese Laymon“An incredible history of a crime that changed America.” —John Grisham"With integrity, and soul, Thompson unearths the terrible how and why, carrying us back and forth through time, deep in Mississippi—baring sweat, soil, and heart all the way through.” —Imani PerryA shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so longWright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing. In August 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their inevitable acquittal in a mockery of justice, they gave a false confession to a journalist, which was misleading about where the long night of hell took place and who was involved. In fact, Wright Thompson reveals, at least eight people can be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues on nearby Dockery Plantation.Even in the context of the racist caste regime of the time, the four-hour torture and murder of a Black boy barely in his teens for whistling at a young white woman was acutely depraved; Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to keep the casket open seared the crime indelibly into American consciousness. Wright Thompson has a deep understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, and all the forces that aligned to place them together on that spot on the map. As he shows, the full horror of the crime was its inevitability, and how much about it we still need to understand. Ultimately this is a story about property, and money, and power, and white supremacy. It implicates all of us. In The Barn, Thompson brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way of mapping the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.

From one of America''s most beloved sportswriters, a collection of true stories about the dream of greatness and its cost in the world of sports."Wright Thompson''s stories are so full of rich characters, bad actors, heroes, drama, suffering, courage, conflict, and vivid detail that I sometimes thinks he''s working my side of the street - the world of fiction." - John GrishamThere is only one Wright Thompson. He is, as they say, famous if you know who he is: his work includes the most read articles in the history of ESPN (and it''s not even close) and has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series seven times, and he counts John Grisham, Richard Ford and Barack Obama as among his ardent admirers (see back of book). But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurtry''s Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive. Wright Thompson figures people out. He jimmies the lock to the furnaces inside the people he profiles and does an analysis of the fuel that fires their ambition. Whether it be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Pat Riley or Urban Meyer, he strips the away the self-serving myths and fantasies to reveal his characters in full. There are fascinating common denominators: it may not be the case that every single great performer or coach had a complex relationship with his father, but it can sure seem that way. And there is much marvelous local knowledge: about specific sports, and times and places, and people. Ludicrously entertaining and often powerfully moving, The Cost of These Dreams is an ode to the reporter''s art, and a celebration of true greatness and the high price that it exacts.

For twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the past year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Wright Thompson, many times included in this volume over the years, takes his turn at the helm by curating this exceptional collection. The only shared trait among these diverse pieces is the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, but collectively they tap into the pure passion that can only come from sports. And for all aspiring sports writers, says Thompson, "these selections are both road map and compass." The Best American Sports Writing 2015 includesDon Van Natta Jr., Chris Ballard, Katie Baker, Christopher Beam, Wells Tower, Seth Wickersham, Ariel Levyand othersWRIGHT THOMPSON, guest editor, started his sports writing career as a student at the University of Missouri, where he covered sports for the Columbia Missourian. He interned at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and worked as the LSU beat writer. He then moved to the Kansas City Star, where he covered a wide variety of sports. In 2006 he joined ESPN.com and ESPN: The Magazine as a senior writer. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.GLENN STOUT, series editor for The Best American Sports Writing since its inception, is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912. He serves as the long-form editor for SB Nation and lives in Alburgh, Vermont.

"Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.” —Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division and Heavy: An American Memoir"With integrity, and soul, Thompson unearths the terrible how and why, carrying us back and forth through time, deep in Mississippi—baring, sweat, soil, and heart all the way through.” —Imani PerryA shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long Wright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.  In August 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their inevitable acquittal in a mockery of justice, they gave a false confession to a journalist, which was misleading about where the long night of hell took place and who was involved. In fact, Wright Thompson reveals, at least eight people can be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues on nearby Dockery Plantation. Even in the context of the racist caste regime of the time, the four-hour torture and murder of a Black boy barely in his teens for whistling at a young white woman was acutely depraved; Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to keep the casket open seared the crime indelibly into American consciousness. Wright Thompson has a deep understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, and all the forces that aligned to place them together on that spot on the map. As he shows, the full horror of the crime was its inevitability, and how much about it we still need to understand. Ultimately this is a story about property, and money, and power, and white supremacy. It implicates all of us. In The Barn, Thompson brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way of mapping the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.  

The New York Times bestseller''Full of rich characters, bad actors, heroes, drama, suffering, courage, conflict, and vivid detail'' John Grisham****************From one of America''s most beloved sportswriters, a collection of true stories about the dream of greatness and its cost in the world of sports.There is only one Wright Thompson. His work includes the most read articles in the history of ESPN and has been anthologised in The Best American Sports Writing books ten times. But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurty''s Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive. Wright Thompson figures people out. Whether it be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Lionel Messi or Pat Riley, he strips away the self-serving myths and fantasies to fully reveal his characters, and what drives them, in a way that few others can. Ludicrously entertaining and often powerfully moving, The Cost of These Dreams is an ode to the reporter''s art and a celebration of true greatness and the high price that it exacts. ****************''Proves that the best sports writing is never about sport, but the human condition. Thompson writes vividly about things I didn''t see but wish I had done'' Duncan Hamilton, Guardian Best Books of the Year''Wright Thompson performs that nifty bit of sportswriting hoodoo, virtually out of vogue today: he subordinates self to story. Stylishly, intelligently, incisively, deftly, he keeps his priorities straight. It''s why I read him'' Richard Ford